Table of Contents

1. Overview

This is the main resource page for building an accurate and powerful PID control system with NI M Series devices. M Series is the next generation of multifunction data acquisition (DAQ) devices from National Instruments. All devices have a minimum of 16 analog inputs, 24 digital I/O lines, and two counter/timers. Devices are also available with up to four analog outputs, 32 analog inputs, and 48 digital lines. M Series hardware combined with the PID Control Toolset allows you to build a powerful control application.

This page contains four technical white papers about PID theory in general and about the considerations you should make while choosing hardware for your control system. The first document in this resource will elaborate on the advantages of using high accuracy I/O for your control system. The second document will discuss the four considerations you should take into account when choosing hardware for your control system. PID tuning with the appropriate P, I and D values for the optimum system performance is a very common concern for control users and the third document will explain PID tuning in detail. The last document in this series discusses the advanced features in PID control system for additional performance benefits.

Figure 1: M Series with LabVIEW for control solutions

In addition to these documents, you will also be able to download a LabVIEW Ready-To-Run Control Starter Kit to quickly and easily start your control application. This kit not only includes LabVIEW VIs (VI=Virtual Instrument, a LabVIEW program), but also contains LabVIEW executables, in case you do not have LabVIEW installed on your computer.

The Starter Kit also includes a Simulation mode, if you do not have the M Series hardware installed. Using the simulation mode, you will be able to tune your PID algorithm and see how the LabVIEW PID VIs function.